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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Year: 2009

Not So Swift

May 18, 2009

A new fundraising plea from the Democratic National Committee highlights the link between a new conservative group’s health care ads and the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth — but it goes too far in its claim of a connection.
An e-mail message from David Plouffe, Obama’s campaign manager, says:

Plouffe, DNC pitch: We knew healthcare reform would face fierce opposition — and it’s begun. As we speak, the same people behind the notorious "swiftboat" ads of 2004 are already pumping millions of dollars into deceptive television ads.

May 18, 2009

May 18, 2009

In 2007, nearly four in ten (39.7 percent) of all births were to unmarried women, more than double the proportion in 1980 (18.4 percent).
Source: National Center for Health Statistics

Michelle Obama’s Salary

May 17, 2009

Q: Did Michelle Obama make $317,000 a year while working part-time at the University of Chicago Medical Center?
A: This allegation in a chain e-mail is wrong: Obama’s reported income was $103,633 in 2007, the year she reduced her work schedule to part time.

May 17, 2009

May 17, 2009

From the 1990 Census to the 2000 Census, the percentage of Americans who said they worked from home went up 0.3 percent.
Source: Census Bureau

May 16, 2009

May 16, 2009

From the 1990 Census to the 2000 Census, there was little change in the transportation Americans used to get to work: The percentage who drove alone went up 2.5 percent, and those using public transportation went down 0.5 percent.
Source: Census Bureau

Drop in the Bucket? See for Yourself.

May 15, 2009

In our "What’s in a Number" post on May 7, we noted a clever video by Salt Lake City software developer Matt Shapiro, showing how little $100 million in savings would amount to when compared with the $3.6 trillion in federal spending being proposed by President Obama (about one-quarter of a penny on the scale of the budget being equal to $100.)
Now Matt has come up with a second video to help us wrap our brains around the latest figures.

Health Savings Still Optimistic

May 15, 2009

Back when he was courting voters, then-candidate Barack Obama boasted that his health care plan would save the typical family "up to $2,500" a year. And May 13, as President Obama, he repeated the claim, this time relying both on undefined "comprehensive reform" and a cost-control promise by the insurance and medical industries to garner such benefits:

Obama, May 13: On Monday I met with representatives of the insurance and the drug companies, doctors and hospitals,

May 15, 2009

May 15, 2009

Cherrapunji Assam, India, has amassed several world records for precipitation. In two years, 1860 and 1861, it recorded 1,605.05 inches.
Source: NOAA

Crime to Denounce Homosexuality?

May 14, 2009

Q: Would the "hate crimes" bill make it a crime to denounce homosexuality from the pulpit and give legal protection to pedophiles?
A: No on both counts. The First Amendment is still operative, and pedophiles would get no breaks under this bill.

Cheney’s Gitmo Recidivism Claims

May 14, 2009

Former Vice President Dick Cheney used his May 10 appearance on CBS’ "Face the Nation" to, once again, strongly defend the Bush administration’s handling of alleged terrorists taken into U.S. custody. At one point, to back up his characterization of Guantanamo Bay detainees as ultra-bad guys, Cheney claimed that detainees sent home from Gitmo had already demonstrated significant recidivism: "We released hundreds already of the less threatening types. About 12 percent of them, nonetheless, went back into the fight as terrorists."